SoCon women's soccer championship page
SPARTANBURG, S.C. – The Southern Conference Women’s Soccer Championship moves to ETSU’s Summers-Taylor Stadium in Johnson City, Tennessee, this weekend for the semifinal and final matches, beginning Friday at 5 p.m. For the third straight season, each of the top four seeds advanced to the championship weekend, with Samford, ETSU, Mercer and Furman battling for the tournament title and the league’s automatic bid to the NCAA Women’s Soccer Championship.
Both of Friday’s semifinal matches will air live on the SoCon Digital Network, with Jason Patterson and Phil Cox on the call. Sunday’s championship match, set for 1 p.m., will be broadcast live on ESPN3, with Pete Yanity handling play-by-play duties and Charlie Slagle serving as analyst.
Tickets for this weekend’s games can be purchased from ETSU’s Ticket Office (423-439-3878 or 423-439-4828) or at the Summers-Taylor Stadium entrance beginning one hour prior to each day’s competition. Admission is $5 for adults and $3 for children 4-12 years old. Children 3 and under, as well as students with a valid SoCon school ID, will be admitted for free.
Three-time defending regular-season champion and No. 1 seed Samford (13-3-2, 8-1-0 SoCon) will take on No. 4 seed and defending tournament champion Furman (13-4-1, 6-3-0) at 5 p.m. Friday in a matchup of teams that have won three of the last five tournament titles. The Bulldogs, who won their only title in 2011, swept this year’s individual SoCon awards, with Jermaine Seoposenwe being named the player of the year, Olivia Cole the defensive player of the year, Allie Lourie the freshman of the year and Todd Yelton the coach of the year.
Furman, which counts titles in 2013 and 2015 among its six championships, counters with Carlie Couch, one of just four players in league history to earn first-team all-conference honors four times, and four more all-conference picks. The Paladins handed Samford its lone league loss this season, a 3-2 setback in Greenville, South Carolina, on Sept. 25, but the Bulldogs have won eight straight since then.
The Bulldogs, 5-0 winners over No. 8 seed VMI in the quarterfinal round of the tournament, are in the semifinals for the fourth straight season and the seventh time in eight years in the league. Furman, which topped No. 5 seed UNCG 1-0 in overtime in the quarterfinals on Couch’s golden goal, is in the semifinals for a fifth straight year and a league-record 20th time overall.
Samford is 9-5-3 all-time in nine SoCon tournament appearances, while Furman is 36-12-3 in 22 showings. The squads have met in the tournament twice, in the semifinals both times. Samford won 1-0 in double overtime in 2011 and Furman won 2-0 in 2013, with the winner of both of those matches going on to win the tournament.
On the other side of the bracket, No. 2 seed ETSU (12-5-2, 6-2-1) takes on No. 3 seed Mercer (10-8-1, 6-3-0) in the 7:30 p.m. semifinal. The Bucs, whose second-place regular-season SoCon finish was their best ever, will be seeking their first title and have the luxury of playing on their home field, where they are 9-0-0 this season. First-team all-conference pick Eleonora Goldoni, second in the league in scoring (33 points) and goals (15) behind Samford’s Seoposenwe, is one of five All-SoCon picks for the Bucs, who topped No. 7 seed Western Carolina 2-1 in the quarterfinals.
The Bears, who won the SoCon Championship in 2014, have reached the title match in each of their previous two years in the tournament. Mercer, which boasts a pair of first-team all-conference selections in midfielder Maddie Clark and defender Corinne Wooten, punched its ticket to the semifinals with a 3-0 win over No. 6 seed Chattanooga in the quarterfinals. The Bears have won seven straight matches, posting shutouts in six of them.
ETSU and Mercer have met in the tournament once, with the Bears taking a 3-2 win in the quarterfinals last season. The former Atlantic Sun Conference foes also met once in the ASUN tournament, with Mercer claiming a 1-0, overtime win in the 2011 semifinals. Mercer claimed this year’s regular-season matchup, 3-2 on Sept. 25 at home.
The Bucs, in the semis for the second time in three seasons, are 2-6-0 in seven SoCon tournament appearances, while the Bears are 5-1-1.
The winner of this year’s tournament will receive the SoCon’s automatic bid to the NCAA postseason. The NCAA Selection Show will air on NCAA.com on Monday, Nov. 7, at 4:30 p.m.
2016 SoCon Women’s Soccer Championship
Oct. 26 (Wednesday)
First round (at higher seeds)
Match 1: No. 8 VMI 1, No. 9 The Citadel 0 (OT)
Match 2: No. 7 Western Carolina 2, No. 10 Wofford 1 (2OT)
Oct. 29 (Saturday)
Quarterfinal round (at higher seeds)
Match 3: No. 1 Samford 5, No. 8 VMI 0
Match 4: No. 4 Furman 1, No. 5 UNCG 0 (OT)
Match 5: No. 2 ETSU 2, No. 7 Western Carolina 1
Oct. 30 (Sunday)
Quarterfinal round (at higher seeds)
Match 6: No. 3 Mercer 3, No. 6 Chattanooga 0
Nov. 4 (Friday)
Semifinals (Summers-Taylor Stadium; Johnson City, Tenn.)
Match 7: No. 1 Samford vs. No. 4 Furman, 5 p.m. (SoCon Digital Network)
Match 8: No. 2 ETSU vs. No. 3 Mercer, 7:30 p.m. (SoCon Digital Network)
Nov. 6 (Sunday)
Final (Summers-Taylor Stadium; Johnson City, Tenn.)
Match 9: Winner Match 7 vs. Winner Match 8, 1 p.m. (ESPN3)
All times Eastern.
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